Phillies bust out the hitting sticks against the Mets to take over second

NEW YORK -- Charlie Manuel’s start to the second half of the season got off to an ominous start when he arrived at Orlando International Airport for his flight to New York Thursday afternoon.

His flight, which was scheduled to leave at 4:20, was pushed back an hour. Then it was pushed back two more hours. Then, after boarding, the plane took an hour to go from the gate to the runway. When Manuel landed in New York, the line for a taxi was dozens of people deep.

He arrived at the hotel at 12:15 in the morning.

“And I was cussing every one of you (writers) and everyone on the team and everything,” Manuel said with a laugh. “Outside of that I had a good time.”

He had to wait a while at Citi Field on Friday night, but after three-and-a-half hours the Phillies (49-48) made a huge offensive showing against their favorite batting-practice pitcher, Jeremy Hefner, pay off in a 13-8 win over the Mets.

It was the most runs scored by the Phils in a game since … they pummeled Hefner in a 16-1 rout Sept. 20, 2002. In that game the Phillies scored seven runs against the right-hander with him getting an out. This time Hefner actually made it to the third inning … then he failed to get an out in that seven-run inning, which gave the Phils an 11-0 lead.

It also continues what the Phillies started in the final four series before the All-Star break. They are 10-4 in their last 14 games, and although they didn’t gain ground on the National League East-leading Braves, they did gain ground on the wildcard-leading Pirates (56-38), who lost to the Reds – the other team presently in possession of a wildcard spot.

“We’ll just keep playing,” Manuel said. “We need to have a lot of energy and put everything we have into it, and I think that’s what we’re doing right now. I think we’re coming to the ballpark with the mindset we’re going to win.”

One guy he did not get out was Domonic Brown. Coming off his first All-Star appearance at this ballpark three nights earlier, Brown delivered an RBI single in the first inning and a solo homer in the third. That improved the left fielder’s career numbers against Hefner to 6-for-6 with two home runs, two walks and seven RBIs.

“I know my numbers are pretty good against him, so I’ll take that,” Brown said. “The whole team, top to bottom, we played pretty well tonight. We’re just trying to continue (the improved play). After four days off, that was big to see the bats coming around like that.”

Michael Young also hit a home run in the third and Chase Utley hit his 12th homer of the season in the fifth inning to go along with a first-inning triple.

The 11-run lead was enough for Kyle Kendrick, although the right-hander certainly allowed the Mets to whittle away a good amount of that after pitching three hitless frames to start the game. They scored six runs off Kendrick in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, and the Phils needed Luis Garcia to come in to finish the sixth and settle things down with a scoreless seventh.

“I felt good early, then I couldn’t locate a pitch the last three innings,” said Kendrick, who nevertheless improved to 9-6 for the season. “I like pitching in this (oppressively hot) weather. I just couldn’t make a pitch. The offense picked me up, so we’ll take the win. I’d like to pitch better, though.

“We needed it tonight. We swung it well.”

And as rough as the flight plan back to his managerial work was, a win helped soothe Manuel.